


Eye of the Storm

by SoliloGuy



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Drabble, Fluff and Angst, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:21:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25904242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoliloGuy/pseuds/SoliloGuy
Summary: INSOMNIA-INDUCED ONESHOT.  BLIND-/PUZZLESHIPPING.  POST DSOD.  I DO NOT OWN "YU-GI-OH!" A late night call leads Yugi to a hidden truth.
Relationships: Atem/Mutou Yuugi, Mutou Yuugi/Yami Yuugi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 57





	Eye of the Storm

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everyone. So...I was a HUGE Yu-Gi-Oh! fan growing up and during this COVID19 quarantine, I found myself falling back into the franchise. It's been nearly a decade since I wrote YGO fanfiction and for good reason: I have a bad history of writing horrible YGO fanfics in my middle-high school days and I was paranoid that I would fall into that same horribleness with anything writing project. However, this idea wouldn't leave my head after a few nights of insomnia and I decided "screw it."
> 
> Hope this fic is to your liking!

It was nighttime when he received the call. 

Yugi hadn’t heard such urgency in Kaiba’s voice, but that urgency was what drew him to KaibaCorp. 

It was there he saw the Quantum Cube. With zero explanation (and zero time to prepare his stomach), Yugi was hurtling through space in a chair inside a glass elevator. The launch was dizzying enough, but the drop was worse. He could barely hear Kaiba over his own panicked screams. 

A great white light swallowed him from below. When Yugi finally opened his eyes, all of space, the glass, and the chair had vanished. There was nothing but white. Except… 

“Yugi?” 

It was then that he saw him. 

“No way,” Yugi gasps. “How—? This isn’t a hologram?” 

In front of him, the Pharaoh Atem tilts his head, jostling the jewelry adorning his head. “A hologram wouldn’t turn away Kaiba to see you again,” he says with a smile. 

“You’re really—so all of this is…?” 

All it takes is a nod. Yugi lunges forward and pounces on Atem, hugging him tightly. He closes his eyes: the cape under his fingers, the clinking of gold jewelry, the warm dark-skinned arms around him…they were here. Really, truly here. 

An image flashes in Yugi’s mind. Still hugging the monarch, he pulls away. “Is everything all right?” He asks. 

“What?” 

“It’s just that…” Yugi lets go of the other man. “We were together for so long, I can sense how you’re feeling, even when you tried to hide it. I was still able to feel it when you came to fight Diva: you wanted to save everyone, but…there was something else.” 

“Something else?” 

Yugi pauses. Memories fill his mind, forcing his hand onto his chest. “Fear. Sadness. Confusion. Self-hatred.” 

Atem lowers his head. “…I was just worried about failing you.” 

“Don’t lie to me, Atem. Back then—even now, I can tell something’s bugging you. I don’t want to pry, but it feels like you’re going to explode if you don’t talk to someone. If you need to vent, whatever it is, I’m here.” 

The pharaoh raises his hand to his face, his earrings swaying slightly as he sighs. “…I truly can’t hide anything from you, Yugi. It’s just…” He turns away. “…I can’t say it.” 

“Atem, please.” Yugi places his hands on the other’s shoulders. “It isn’t healthy to bottle up this sort of thing. You need to let it out.” 

Atem keeps avoiding Yugi’s gaze. Still looking away, he lowers his hand and grins. “You always were the better man,” he chuckles softly. 

Yugi blushes. “Wha--? N-no, I wasn’t.” 

“You were—no, you _are_. Perceptive, brave, loving in the darkest of times…even now…” Atem’s voice shakes. “Oh gods, not like this.” 

The sight urges Yugi closer, moving his hands to Atem’s face. “I take it back,” he says, wiping away tears with his thumbs. “I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have forced it.” 

“No.” Atem bats Yugi’s hands away. “You would’ve found out eventually. If not from me, from Kaiba: he knows how to use you against me.” 

The shorter man raises an eyebrow. “Kaiba? What do you mean?” 

Atem remains silent. He keeps his head down, trembling as he fails to contain his sobs. Yugi reaches out to him, but he steps back. 

Yugi could sense it: the emotions from before were stronger than ever. Deep sadness, absolute terror, muddled madness, and burning rage circling the pharaoh as if he were the eye of a storm. But…he wasn’t. If anything, he was more of a vessel. But then, what started these feelings? What was causing the chaos inside him? Whatever it was, it seemed to grow stronger with his presence— 

Yugi’s heart stops. Nervously, he looks at the pharaoh. “Atem?” 

No response. 

“Are you…in love?” 

Still no response. 

Yugi gulps. “With…me?” 

The silence is deafening. Atem barely moves and with each quiet minute, Yugi feels the emptiness of the white space crushing him. Doubts ran through his mind: it had been a while since the two were reunited and here he was, saying he could read the pharaoh like an open book. He shouldn’t have forced the topic. He shouldn’t have jumped to this conclusion. He has to apologize— 

Atem hides his face in his hands. “I swore I would take this to my grave.” 

A brief _“aren’t you already dead?”_ pops into Yugi’s mind, but he ignores it. Instead, he holds Atem’s shaking body, and lowers both himself and the king to their knees. “…how long have you felt like this?” he asks. 

A weak, trembling voice escapes Atem’s fingers. “Too long,” he mutters. “Too long.” 

Yugi leans in. “Atem, I—” 

“Don’t,” the pharaoh snaps. “ _I’m_ the one who should be apologizing. I caused you so much pain, even before Duel Monsters was popular. Not only that, I shouldn’t even be near you. My time passed a long time ago: I’m nothing but a ghost. And even if I wasn’t, even if I lived beside you in my own body…we look too similar. People would get the wrong idea, and I couldn’t bear to ruin you like that.” He lowers his gaze. “I wanted to get over it. This feeling…it was overwhelming, but I knew: it would hurt you more than me. Entering the afterlife, I thought putting distance between you and I would do the trick, and yet—and yet…” 

Atem touches Yugi’s hand, tenderly cradling it as his voice shakes. “I still wanted you,” he cried. “This longing….once Diva was gone, I wanted nothing more than to hold you, to feel your warmth in my own body, but…you have your own life. Your own time, your own future. Something I lost long ago.” He sharply inhales through sobs. “…I’m so sorry, Yugi. Please forgive me. Forgive this foolish, dead man who’s fallen in love with you.” 

A deep, cold ache grips Yugi’s chest. All he can do is gaze at the long-deceased king crying before him. The air grows heavy and in it, Yugi feels the storm growing violent. Despair, desperation, regret, fear, go, don’t go, get away, stay with me… 

Yugi takes a deep breath. “Atem, it’s okay,” he mutters. “I…I kinda knew.” 

Atem looks up. “What?” 

“I had my suspicions,” Yugi continues. “But I thought I was overthinking things. There were bullies, evil duelists, Rare Hunters…I figured you were just being protective of me and our friends.” 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” 

Yugi blushes deeply. “I can’t just ask someone if they like me! That’s way too awkward! And even if they did, that’s something _they_ have to tell me when they’re ready! A-and besides…” He lowers his head. “There wasn’t much to like about me at the time.” 

“Yugi,” Atem says. “You know that’s not true.” 

The shorter man nervously waves his hands. “Well…at the time, I was a tiny high school gamer who was picked on every day. You were a strong, brave, and gentle person who helped me make friends. Not only did you save the world, you saved me.” His lips curl into a small smile. “You were— _are_ a hero, Atem.” 

A bejeweled hand enters Yugi’s view. He nearly jumps at the sight: the pharaoh cupping the side of his face, a coy grin on his face. 

“Yugi,” Atem teases. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” 

“H-huh?” 

The king chuckles. “We were together for so long, I can sense how you’re feeling.” He brushes Yugi’s cheek. “But I must’ve been so wrapped up in my own secret, I never noticed yours.” 

Yugi feels his face reddening as Atem stares into his eyes. Shaking off his nerves, he smiles at the dark-skinned man. “Don’t worry,” he says. “I’ll show you.” 

The moment Yugi meets Atem’s lips, the smell of desert sands fills the air. A warm softness pours into his chest and through his body. He pulls away for breath, only for Atem to pull him back in. The same warmth comes with shock when the king’s tongue enters him. Heat and sparks fly in Yugi’s mind as he falls backward, dragging Atem down with him. The other’s heat and heartbeat ripple through him and through the kisses, a moan escapes Yugi’s lips. 

Atem draws back. “Oh gods, I’m sorry!” he pants, the sight of Yugi pinned below him making him blush even more. “I got carried away and—” 

“Was it that good?” Yugi asks. 

The pharaoh sheepishly grins. “…like nectar of the gods.” 

Yugi covers his face. “Stop, you’re embarrassing me!” 

“Says the one who kissed first,” Atem chuckles. He leans over the other male, doing his best not to flatten him. “…I didn’t hurt you, did I?” 

From the floor, Yugi lowers his hands, revealing a shy smile. “It was perfect.” 

**_“PHARAOH!!”_**

The two men jump. Yugi spots a blue light in the corner of his eye. Placing his hand there, he remembers the metallic earpiece latched around his ear before the glass elevator ride. “Kaiba?” he asks. “Were you listening this whole time?!” 

“You said you’d duel me again if I brought Yugi! _Well?_ I brought Yugi, so where’s my duel?!” 

“…wait.” Yugi shifts himself from below Atem. “Can you hear me?” 

“If you don’t send Yugi back right now, I’ll turn on the mic and monitors—and you know how badly you wanted privacy!” 

Yugi lowers his hand. “Well, that answers that question,” he sighs. Suddenly, he looks at Atem. “You made Kaiba bring me here in exchange for a _duel_?” 

The pharaoh nervously rubs the back of his neck. “Well…no one expected him to use the Quantum Cube like this. He showed up a few weeks ago, demanded a duel, I won, he demanded a rematch, I told him we’d duel again if he brought you here. It was supposed to be a simple hello, but…” He gestures to Yugi and himself. “It didn’t exactly go as planned.” 

“Does that mean Kaiba’s gonna drag me out of bed every night so he can duel you?” 

Atem laughs. “I’ll see if I can convince him to let you visit without any rematches. Oh, and if he can modify his machine for more people: I’d love to see our friends again.” 

“I’ll tell them all about it first thing in the morning.” Yugi hops onto his feet, straightening his pajamas. “I should probably go before Kaiba tries anything.” 

“Wait.” 

From above, Yugi sees Atem still on the floor. “Are you really okay with this?” the pharaoh asks hesitantly. “I’m glad you feel the same way, but…I’m not even alive…” 

Yugi gazes at the king below. With a smile, he kneels in front of Atem. “Whether you’re alive, dead, a stranger, or a doppelganger, I still want you in my life,” he says. “And while I do have painful memories of the past, I have many more that are precious to me.” He takes Atem’s hand into his own. “You’re not the person you were back then. You’ve come a long way, and I’m glad I could be a part of it.” 

“But those painful memories, don’t they haunt you? Knowing that I put you through them…” Atem looks away. “It’s a living nightmare.” 

Yugi frowns. “…they do. There’re nights where I wake up in a cold sweat…but talking about it always made me feel better. Whether it’s Grandpa, Joey, Tristan, or Téa, they’re always there to listen—and I’ll always be here for you.” 

The pharaoh’s eyes glisten. Leaning forward, he buries his face into Yugi’s shoulder. “You’re gonna make me cry again, you silly, beautiful man.” 

“At least it’s a good cry?” Yugi asks. 

Atem breathes in deep, wrapping his arms around his lookalike. “Yes. Yes, it is.” 

“Ten seconds!” Kaiba’s voice booms, angrier than before. “You’ve got ten seconds to send Yugi back here, or else!” 

A deep chuckle rises from Atem. “You should probably get going,” he says. “I need to make Kaiba bring you to me again.” 

“Don’t crush him too hard,” Yugi replies with a wink. “You need him alive if you want visitors.” 

“I’ll leave him mostly alive. And tell everyone I said hello.” 

Yugi swings an arm over his chest in an exaggerated motion. “As you wish, O great and mighty Pharaoh.” 

Atem bursts into laughter. Yugi can’t help but laugh as well: the once-chaotic storm had passed. In it’s place, he feels something else: joy, confidence, hope— 

The empty space begins to fade away. 

Atem kisses Yugi one last, passionate time. “I love you,” he whispers. 

Yugi smiles. “I love you, too.” 

In the blink of an eye, modern day returns.


End file.
